The Turning of the Tides
by amilyn88
Summary: Set 3 months after S2 finale; Stefan returns with Damon's old best friend, Olivia. Can Stefan and Olivia ever be free of Klaus? How will everyone fair when an enemy of Klaus comes to Mystic Falls – is she an ally or a foe?   Rated M just in case
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Damon heard the approach and quickly went to answer the door. Everyone was meeting at the Salvatore mansion tonight to discuss their next plan of action in getting Stefan back. He could hear only one heartbeat on the other side of the door, but he knew there were two people out there.

_Must be Caroline and Tyler_, Damon thought as he opened the door.

For the first time in a long time, Damon was speechless.

"Help me," Stefan pleaded. He looked like he had been in a fight. His clothes were torn and ripped in places and he had blood stains and dirt scattered all over him. He was cradling an unconscious woman in his arms that looked to be in the same state he was, only human. This explained why she was unconscious. Her face was hidden in Stefan's chest.

Damon backed out of the doorway, letting Stefan step inside the mansion. The younger brother was obviously injured and struggling to hold onto the woman. Damon moved to take the woman from Stefan, but Stefan backed away into the parlor. Slowly and gently, he set the woman on the couch and stood protectively in front of her.

"What happened to you?" Damon asked quietly, his eyes running over his brother. Without waiting for an answer he was gone in the blink of an eye, only to return a second later with a few blood bags.

"Thanks," Stefan choked out as he took the bags from Damon and tore into them without thinking. The blood worked its way through his system fast, already making him look and feel better. "Don't freak out, Damon. She's okay; we've just been through a lot." He said as he backed up towards the couch, shielding the woman from Damon's sight.

Damon's eyes narrowed and he gave Stefan a confused look. What did he care about Stefan's latest victim? Curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself at the back of the couch instantly.

"Who is she?" Damon asked in a bored tone, wanting the answer to his earlier question more than this one. Looking down at the woman he noticed she had dark blonde hair that looked to fall just passed her shoulders. Part of her hair was covering her face. Damon tilted his head slightly and his eyebrows furrowed. Why did she look familiar? His hand moved towards her head, about to move her hair away from her face when he noticed Stefan stiffen and then move back a few steps.

Once he was able to see the young woman's face, Damon gasped and his eyes went immediately to Stefan's. There was anger in the older brother's eyes and before Stefan knew it, Damon had him pinned to the wall, his hand around Stefan's throat.

"What? I killed Lexi, so now you want to make it even by hurting Olivia?"Damon's voice was dark and angry. Unfortunately, he had temporarily forgotten about his younger brother's recent feeding habits and soon found himself in Stefan's former position with his little brother's hand around his throat.

"Why would I do that, Damon? I'm NOT like you! I told you, she's fine." Stefan's eyes bore down into Damon's. "I'm going to let you go, so calm down," he stepped back and Damon rushed to Olivia's side.

"What happened" He asked Stefan, his voice full of concern for the young woman.

"It's a long story, but we were both stuck with Klaus," Stefan started as he moved a bit closer to the couch.

Damon's eyes immediately swung to his brother at the mention of Klaus, but only for a moment. "And where is Klaus?" His hand reached out and lovingly stroked Olivia's hair. It had been almost twenty years since he had seen her. The hair color was different, but other than that she hadn't changed a bit.

Stefan shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "We don't know. He took off a week ago. Olivia seems to think he ran into trouble."

That wasn't good. When Klaus came back to find them gone, he would not be pleased. "Why come here then? This will be the first place he looks."

Stefan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know! I'm barely in control, and the only reason I am is because of her," he said, waving his hand toward Olivia, frustration evident in his voice.

"Is she…" Damon trailed off, a thoughtful expression covering his face. He didn't need to finish the question; just looking at her answered it for him. He opened his mouth to ask the younger Salvatore something else when he was interrupted.

"Stefan?" Elena's voice rang out from behind the brothers. Her voice was full of emotion at seeing the vampire she loved back home. There was a gasp as Elena was soon joined by Caroline, Tyler and Bonnie.

The four of them stood staring at the vampire that they had been searching for all summer. Stefan turned around and stared at Elena, emotion pouring off of him in waves. He didn't know how he could have left her. He knew he did what he had to do to save his brother and keep Elena safe, but it still hurt every day. His only comfort had been knowing that Klaus thought Elena was dead, and he wanted desperately to keep it that way. His eyes traveled all over her face, as if memorizing it in case he had to disappear again.

They all stared at each other for a few minutes, all overcome with shock and relief.

Nobody noticed when Damon scooped up Olivia and used his vampire speed to take her to his room, leaving everybody else behind and no longer caring how this situation would play itself out.

* * *

><p>Once she got over the initial shock, Elena surged forward eager to be back in Stefan's arms. She halted a frown on her face when Stefan began backing away from her. She didn't understand. This was supposed to be their happy reunion, so why was he keeping his distance.<p>

"Please, Elena. Stay where you are." The pain was evident in his voice, and he backed up a few more steps as a precaution. He had meant what he said to Damon – he was barely in control of himself. His eyes left Elena's to look at Damon, but he was gone. His brow furrowed. Had he been so captivated by Elena's appearance that he didn't even notice Damon leave the room with Olivia? He knew he was upstairs, he could hear him moving around up there.

"Why, Stefan?" Elena asked, tears threatening to fall at his distance.

It was Caroline that decided a change of subject was in order. It made Stefan wonder if she knew – if she knew he had been killing again. "Why don't we all just…" She trailed off and looked all around the room. "Hey, where did Damon go?" Her eyes finally settled on Stefan, as if questioning him personally.

Stefan cleared his throat and motioned everyone into the room. "We have a lot to talk about, why doesn't everybody take a seat?" He asked his eyes purposely avoiding Elena's as he moved as far from her and Bonnie as he could get.

Bonnie and Elena sat on the couch that Olivia had occupied only moments before. Caroline sat in an armchair, with Tyler opting to stand behind her chair. Stefan chose to stand by the bar on the other side of the room, far away from the two humans in the room. They all looked at each other in silence, except Elena. She was too busy staring at her lap trying hard not to cry. She couldn't even get Stefan to look at her. She had no idea what had happened with Klaus, but she didn't even think she could sit here and listen to it. There was a feeling deep in the pit of her stomach that told her Damon was right when he had said Stefan was gone. She didn't even feel like Stefan had come home, at least not her Stefan.

"Well, what the hell happened?" Tyler said with a breathy laugh at the end of the question to lighten the mood a bit.

Stefan decided it best to start with Caroline's question first. "Damon's upstairs. I brought a woman we both knew a long time ago home with me. She's injured and Damon took her upstairs to rest." His eyes then flew to Bonnie's "She's a witch, like you. Her name is Olivia, and she is Damon's best friend; Well, his only friend really." His voice sounded distant, far away. As if none of this really mattered at all to him.

"What happened with Klaus?" Elena asked, forcing herself to look at Stefan.

"He took off a week ago and never came back. Olivia and I decided to run." They others looked a bit shocked. "Don't worry, as soon as she's better, we'll leave. I don't want to lead Klaus back here." He took a deep unnecessary breath and finally looked Elena in the eye. "I don't want him knowing you're alive."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Stefan knocked cautiously on Damon's door. It had been two hours since he had bought Olivia up here. Damon hadn't left the room yet. That simple fact told Stefan that Olivia was still unconscious. He knew that Damon wouldn't leave the room until he knew she was alright.

"Come on in," came the abnormally quiet reply from Damon inside the room.

Stefan entered the room and walked over to Damon, who was sitting on his bed reading next to Olivia. He put down the book and looked up at Stefan.

"Thanks," he said as he took the mug of blood Stefan offered. "So the party finally ended." Damon noted while taking a sip of the blood. He noticed Stefan staring at the mug but decided not to comment on it.

Everybody had left a half hour ago due to the late hour. Stefan had promised Elena he would talk with her tomorrow. To be honest he really didn't want to have that conversation, but he didn't want to lie to her either. He wasn't sure what kind of relationship he could even have with her now. He was afraid to be around her. He still loved her more than anything, but her blood called to him now more than ever. He wasn't in control of that side of himself like he had been before. He had been drinking human – and only human for three months. Shaking the thoughts out of his head for now, his eyes moved from Damon's mug to his eyes.

"Caroline is coming back. She went to get some clothes. She thought she should stay here for a while , just in case anything happens." Stefan ran one of his hands through his hair. "She said her mom knows about us and is okay with it now. I never would have thought."

"She helped me find you in Tennessee." Stefan glanced sharply at him. "Yeah, I knew where you were." Damon shrugged his shoulders and took another sip of his blood. "You really thought she wouldn't look for you? At least if I helped her I knew exactly what she was doing and could stop her from doing anything stupid."

"Elena," Stefan sighed. Of course she would look for him.

Olivia moaned on the bed and turned onto her side. Damon's attention switched from his brother to her quickly. "Thank you for bringing her to me."

"What else would I do? I know you haven't seen her in twenty years. I thought that was a little too long to go without seeing your best friend." A small smile crossed Stefan's face as he remembered a conversation he had with Olivia a few weeks ago about it.

"She told you that?" He turned back towards Stefan, irritation clearly evident on his face. "What else might you two have talked about?" He paused and glanced back down at Olivia. "Did she tell you why the hell she was with Klaus?"

They both heard the door opening and shutting downstairs, indicating Caroline's arrival. Stefan sighed and shook his head at Damon, "That's something you'll have to ask her. Let me know when she wakes up." He turned and went to find Caroline.

* * *

><p>Caroline smiled at Stefan when he entered the parlor. She had a duffle bag by the couch and was behind the bar fixing herself a drink. Without asking, she grabbed another mug and put it next to hers; she put up a hand when Stefan started to protest.<p>

"Damon and I have talked about you. He knew it was you doing all that in Tennessee, what with the bodies and all; said he had seen it all before." She finished pouring and walked around the bar towards him, one of her hands outstretched offering the mug of blood to him. "So it's not directly from the source, but it's about the best your gonna do here."

Stefan took the mug and downed it in one swallow. He moved passed her and walked around the bar going to pour himself some more. Caroline turned around and watched him, tilting her head to the side a bit as if analyzing him.

"Don't judge me," he snarled before he downed another mug full of blood.

"I'm not," she replied.

Stefan shook his head, obviously disgusted with her. "Yes you are! You all have been wondering haven't you?" He walked around the bar slowly, stalking her. She began to back up when he got too close, but he just kept coming. "What's Stefan going to be like now that he's killing again? See none of you ever met that Stefan before." He had Caroline backed up into a wall and he still kept slowly coming at her, she had plenty of time to move. "None of you know just what kind of a threat I can be!"

"I do." And just like that Stefan was thrown to the other side of the room by an invisible force.

Caroline whirled around to see a woman standing in the doorway. This had to be the woman Stefan had mentioned earlier, her clothes were dirty and she looked like she had been through hell. But she was obviously strong, very strong.

Stefan stood up and laughed a truly evil like grin spreading across his face. "Yes you have met that Stefan haven't you?"

Olivia stepped into the room completely and smiled sweetly at Stefan, Damon following into the room behind her. She muttered a few words and Stefan found he could no longer move his body. "Let it go Stefan. Just breathe and push all that anger away. We made it here and we are safe, for the time being anyway." She walked over to the bar and looked down at the mug and the red stains on the inside of it. She turned to Caroline and shook her head, pointing to the cup. "Don't let him drink that stuff again, trust me."

Stefan struggled against the invisible bonds holding him in place. "I thought I told my_ brother _to tell me when you awoke." He snarled the word brother. "How on earth did you get your strength back so quickly?"

"Your _brother _gave me some of his blood. Vampire blood heals people pretty fast, but then again you already knew that." She cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes at him. "If you promise to play nice I'll let you go."

"Don't. Leave him there for the night." Damon snarled. At Olivia's narrowed eyes he threw his hands up in the air. "You know if you let him go he's just going to mess with us again. Or raid the fridge and get even worse." He walked over to Stefan and patted his back. "Face it little brother, you're a blood junkie." He gave Stefan a little smirk that let him know he was enjoying this way too much.

Caroline rolled her eyes at Damon, and then saw Olivia nod to her out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see the witch wink at her and suddenly Stefan was free from his invisible bonds. The vampire immediately went after his brother.

"Come on," Olivia said to Caroline, motioning her to follow her out of the room. "While they're fighting this out why don't you and I get to know each other?"

Caroline followed Olivia out of the room, hearing the brothers grunting and fighting behind them. She stopped and turned towards the parlor when she heard a loud crash. "Are you sure we should just let them go at it? What if one of them gets hurt?"

Olivia laughed and pulled Caroline down the hall with her. "Oh trust me honey, they do this _all_ the time."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Hold still, you big baby," Olivia sighed as she attempted to wash some of Damon's wounds.

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one that got stabbed with the fire poker." Damon hissed, silently wishing Caroline would hurry up with the blood so he could just heal himself. "This isn't even necessary, the blood will heal me and I don't get infections." He said pointedly to the woman beside him.

"I know," Olivia stated, giving him a large smile. "Maybe next time you won't be such a smart ass to your brother. You know, if you could just learn to keep your big fat mouth shut you wouldn't be in this predicament."

Damon glared at her as she continued to clean him up. They were upstairs in his room. Caroline had gone downstairs to lock an unconscious Stefan in the basement and bring Damon some blood on her way back up. It was decided by all of them to lock Stefan down there until he came to his senses. No one knew just how long that would be.

"Finally," Damon muttered as Caroline appeared in the doorway, three bags of blood in her hand. She walked over and handed him one. He pushed Olivia's hands away from him and tore into the bag of blood, feeding eagerly. Once he was done with that bag he held out his hand to Caroline and took a second bag, draining that one too. He could feel his wounds healing. "There," he smirked at Olivia, "All better."

"Fine," she said, gritting her teeth. She grabbed the bandages, rags and bowl of soapy water and made her way into the bathroom to put everything away.

Damon's eyes followed her as she disappeared into the bathroom. She was mad at him. What right did _she_ have to be mad at _him_? If anything _he_ was the one who should be mad at _her_. He gritted his teeth as he thought about her working with Klaus. A growl escaped his throat and Caroline looked sharply over at him. She followed his eyes to the bathroom.

"Caroline, aren't you getting tired?" Damon managed to hiss out, his eyes never leaving the bathroom doorway.

Feeling the anger rolling off of Damon, Caroline promptly stood. "Yeah, uh, actually I was just thinking I should get some sleep." She moved to the door. "Goodnight, Olivia," she called and then was gone, making her way off to her own room for the night.

"Night, Caroline," Olivia called from the bathroom. Finished with putting everything away, she straightened up and leaned forward placing her hands on the counter. She sighed and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't even know who she was anymore. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against the mirror.

As soon as Caroline had gone, Damon was leaning against the bathroom doorway, arms crossed and staring at Olivia. He waited for her to notice he was there, knowing that from this angle there was no way she could see him in the mirror.

"We can't keep him locked up forever," she said not even turning around to look at him.

Damon rolled his eyes. He should have known she knew he was there; he never could sneak up on her like that. He uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off the doorframe moving to stand directly behind her. He was so close she could feel his breath by her ear. "I don't want to talk about my brother," he said in an icy voice.

The witch whirled around, putting herself face to face with the vampire. He took advantage of the situation and placed both hands on the counter, conveniently trapping her and moving so close that their bodies touched. She wasn't even fazed. "Then just what do you want to talk about?"

His face was inches from hers, his eyes burning with anger. "I want you to tell me what the hell you were doing working for Klaus!"

She flinched as he said Klaus and tried to move passed him. He grabbed her wrist hard and demanded her eye contact again. Olivia sucked in a deep breath and looked up at Damon. She wasn't sure he would understand, and from the look in his eyes she was right. "I didn't know you and Stefan were involved. Klaus knew I knew you, so he neglected to tell me you were protecting the doppelganger."

He let go of her wrist and she brushed passed him, walking back into his room. She sat down on the bed, tears falling down her cheeks. "I messed everything up, Damon. My whole life I've only wanted one thing." She looked up into his eyes. "Klaus said he could help me get it. I was such a fool to believe him." She began sobbing, placing her head in her hands.

Damon was beside her right away, pulling her into his arms. He hated seeing her like this. Olivia wasn't one to break down like this. She was fierce and strong and so much like himself. His voice softened and he tried to lighten her mood. "Of course you're a fool; I've been telling you that for years."

She gave a light laugh, but still continued to silently cry. "I don't even know why I keep trying anymore. It's hopeless."

"Hey!" Damon took her face in both his hands and turned it so she was face to face with him. "Don't say that." His eyes searched hers until she nodded and pushed him away.

"I'm fine," Olivia said standing and moving to Damon's dresser. She picked up a pair of pajamas sitting there and gestured to them with her other hand. "Caroline lent me these. I'm gonna…" she trailed off gesturing towards the bathroom.

"Olivia," Damon called causing her to turn back to him. "How do you even know that Klaus really has the answer you're looking for?"

The blonde sighed and shut her eyes. Shaking her head slightly she opened her eyes again and stared passed Damon at the wall. "Because his family is the one that cursed us. Of course he would know how to break it."

For the second time in twenty-four hours Damon was speechless.


End file.
